NON-VIOLENT CRIMES A SPECIAL CATEGORY

As the clock wound down on the 2009 session of the General Assembly,
lawmakers approved a bill decreasing the length of sentences for a
number of criminals serving in our prisons, including some serving
time for violent felonies.

The change was aimed at reducing prison crowding, a
not-so-insignificant issue during a time when tight budgets are
resulting in the state closing a number of smaller prisons and
transferring inmates to larger and more efficient facilities.

With prison population hovering around 41,000 and the average cost of
supervising a prisoner put at $27,911 a year, it's easy to see
how lawmakers want to take a hard look at the possibilities of
changing the sentencing guidelines in order to save taxpayers some
money.

North Carolina's population continues to increase. Included in
that increase are a proportionate number of those who run afoul of the
law.

Critics question the wisdom in releasing prisoners, with recidivism
rates being high. With that in mind, we suggest that lawmakers
undertake an effort to make those who commit violent crimes and are a
danger to the public server their time while reducing or finding
alternative sentencing for those who are non-violent.

According to the Department of Correction Web site, 3,444 people were
serving time in North Carolina prisons on June 30 for non-trafficking
drug charges. There were 5,067 behind bars on habitual felon charges
and another 719 were serving time for non-DWI traffic offenses.

Incarcerating those prisoners costs the state $257.6 million a
year.

Those who kill, rob, rape and severely injure others have violated
their victims and deserve to be behind bars, both as a disciplinary
measure and as a means of keeping them from harming us again.

Non-violent offenders, however, are not in the same
category.

Too many people go to prison in North Carolina, and in America as a
whole, but any effort to reduce those numbers should put as much value
on the safety of our society.